The 30-minute light party spread

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Alexandra Prabaharan is glowing. It’s partly being a brand-new mother to gorgeous baby Ava, partly fulfilling her food passion as both a full-time kitchen dynamo with Food Matters – her healthy lunch delivery business – and the catering business she runs with childhood friend, Diana Race.

Her sparkle is a combination of contentment and the non-stop, buzzing activity of living her passion for food that makes her radiant. Oh, and then there’s the holiday spirit to add even more of a gleam.

But her busy schedule can prove a bit of a challenge when it meets her love of entertaining. Nonetheless, Prabaharan isn’t daunted by the year-end festivities, being an old hand at preparing food for entertaining – which must both look and taste good.

“My husband Vishnu and I just moved into our first home together a few months ago, and I gave birth to Ava in October, so this year the family Christmas is taking place in our home,” she said. “I’m planning to make the goat’s cheese mousse tarts and the pumpkin and ricotta ravioli as some of the dishes for the family dinner. They are sure-fire crowd pleasers.”

Alexandra Prabaharan loves putting together something quick and easy for the new year.

And they would work wonderfully on the New Year festive table as well, in larger portions as mains or passed around on platters as canapes.

“I like to make dishes that are festive and look pretty but are quite simple to pull together,” said Prabaharan. “The last thing you need when you’re throwing a party is having the stress of cooking up dishes that are too complicated!

“What is the use in entertaining, if you’re completely wiped out by the time the guests arrive!”

Indeed. That’s why Prabaharan uses wantan skin for her ravioli, instead of rolling out dough from scratch; also why she rehydrates dried cranberries for a sauce.

“If you know what to do with ingredients, sometimes the simple way can be best,” she said.

Race and Prabaharan putting the finishing touches on the party dishes.

For catering jobs, Race is the one with the more artistic flair for how things should look, while Prabaharan plays around with flavours and textures.

“For me, catering is a passion, and I use it as an outlet to be creative with food – that’s where you can have a lot of fun thinking out of the box,” she said.

“We recently did a job where the customer wanted snowmen onigiri in bento boxes. That was a lot of work – but it was great fun too. We especially like working with theme parties. One of our favourites was a Jungle Book theme party where we made dishes such as Baloo’s Mud Bath, King Louie Banana Puddings and Kaa Snake Eggs.”

Of course, entertaining and catering are two sides of the same delicious coin.

Cooking to entertain your own friends and family is different from cooking to ensure others enjoy their party or event,” said Prabaharan.

“You have to consider the fact that it’s not always the way you might like something to be. You also have to ensure that there aren’t mistakes – your own guests will be more forgiving of flaws, but not a client when they’re paying for the dish. You’re sometimes also cooking for much bigger parties than you would throw at home which means many, many hours of prep.”

Entertaining aside, what are Prabaharan’s foodie New Year resolutions?

“I’ve been too busy to check out new restaurants over the last few months, and the food scene in KL is slowly changing. So next year, I hope to try a few out instead of going to the few that I already like all the time!”

Mix all the ingredients together and form into small balls. Pan-fry till the outside is seared golden, and the inside is just cooked through.

To make sauce

Put the cranberries and the water in a saucepan and bring to a boil to soften and rehydrate them. Once soft, use a stick blender to blend into a thick sauce. Season with salt, then pour over the meatballs and serve immediately.